Prosecutor files suit against 4 of 5 county commissioners

The Presque Isle prosecuting attorney has filed his second lawsuit this year against other county elected officials. After filing a suit against sheriff Bob Paschke and undersheriff Joe Brewbaker, among others, in July, Richard Steiger has targeted four of the five members of the county board of commissioners.

Commissioners Carl Altman, Stephen Lang, Robert Schell and Michael Darga were named in the suit, which was filed in United States District Court, Eastern Division of Michigan, (U.S. District Court) November 24 and came to light this week. The defendants each voted in favor of removing Steiger as civil counsel to the board at its Aug. 28, 2015 meeting. Commissioner Lee Gapczynski, who voted against removing Steiger as civil counsel, was not named in the petition.

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“The defendants removed (Steiger) because of his exposure of and speaking out against the (alleged) unlawful activities occurring at the Presque Isle County jail,” the complaint reads.

Steiger claims he sustained damages and injuries, which included loss of earnings, loss of career opportunities, mental and emotional distress and loss of reputation and esteem in the community. He is asking for in excess of $75,000.

The latest lawsuit is the latest in a series to hang over the county:

—Former court employee Denise Stacer filed suit Dec. 19, 2014 against Presque Isle County, Judge Donald J. McLennan, Judge Maria Barton, Paschke and Brewbaker and is represented by the same law firm as Steiger. “Reading her allegations about why she was terminated is like reading a fairy tale. She was fired, and she knows this, because she wasn’t doing her job,” McLennan said of the allegations listed in the complaint.

That suit may be nearing a settlement, according to court documents. “Dec 17, the court received correspondence advising that the parties had reached a settlement and that closing documents would be submitted within 30 days,” stated a document filed Dec. 21, 2015 in U.S. District Court.

—The White Lake law firm employed by Steiger and Stacer also represented former county jail inmate Joan Burgess, who recently settled a lawsuit with the county and former jail employee Richard Hanson.

— Steiger asked city police to investigate a possible “breach of security” involving an alleged break-in to a filing cabinet in the prosecutor’s office Nov. 24. The investigation is ongoing.

—In Aug. 2014, Steiger made a “request for investigations” of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on four points levied against the Paschke, Brewbaker and officials from the Michigan State Police (MSP). “He is throwing allegations around that are totally false and have no merit to them,” Paschke said at the time of the filing. The implication, by association to include officials from the past is insulting, Paschke added.

—The complaint in the July suit against Paschke and others details Steiger’s version of how the Michigan State Police (MSP) came to investigate Steiger for “doctor shopping.” The complaint said, that during a Dec. 11, 2011 meeting Steiger “clearly expressed his opinion that the HUNT officers were not doing their job; they were not providing full disclosure of evidence; there was a long history of HUNT officers being deceptive,” and other allegations. Steiger was later found not guilty of the “doctor shopping” charges.

“It is possible that during the course of depositions, others will be added. I was clear, the (County) Board (of Commissioners) was very good to me when the arrest came out. People in this community were amazing to me and it would have been a slap in the face to go after county coffers, so I refuse to do so,” Steiger said in November 2014 after filing his initial suit against Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department officials and MSP troopers.

Paschke asked the commissioners in August 2015 to support his request that Michigan attorney general Bill Shuette to assume supervision of the prosecutor’s office because of a clear conflict of interest. Commissioner Mike Darga’s motion to that effect failed by a vote of 4-1.

“I have been in contact with the (Michigan) attorney general’s office several times, and attorney general himself, the honorable Bill Schuette. Because Mr. Steiger is an elected official, elected by the people of Presque Isle County, they will not get involved in our situation. I have asked the Attorney General’s office for a letter explaining their actions so that I could produce this to the public, as of this date I have not received that letter,” Paschke said.

“I have also hear

d, this being before the holidays, that the Department of Justice has sent Mr. Steiger a letter stating that they will not be doing an investigation into his alleged allegations of police corruption.”

Officials from the MSP and the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Department have insisted all allegations have been investigated and were found to be unsubstantiated. It is unclear whether the DOJ has or would ever investigate the accusations brought out in Steiger’s letter from 2014.

(The Advance will have further coverage in the Jan. 7, 2016 edition)